BELLEVILLE, Ont. (05/04/18) — Patrina Brooks tries her hardest in a practice round of arm wrestling against Dawson Marykuca. Brooks trains with men who compete in higher weight classes, which tests her strength and pushes her training. Brooks has been competing in arm wrestling with her younger sister, dad and grandfather since she was 6-years-old. She holds a National title in both the youth and women’s divisions. Photo by Shelby Lisk.

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (18/02/18)— Loyalist Lancer forward, Dorelien Williamson, tries to put the ball in the net but is blocked by Seneca Sting’s Nail Ibrahim. The Lancers played a tight game up until the last minute but lost 80 - 75 to Seneca in their final game of the year. Photo by Shelby Lisk.

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (07/04/2018) — Sarah Whiteman sits in king pigeon pose at She Thrives women’s wellness centre where she teaches yoga. Whiteman’s favourite class to teach is her beginners class. She loves that new yogi’s come to the practice with an open mind and curiosity. She brings light and happiness to all of her classes and loves introducing people to yoga and truly believes that anyone can do it. Photo by Shelby Lisk.

CORBYVILLE, Ont. (15/02/18) — Stephanie Corras leads a broga (beer yoga) class to raise their glasses at Signal Brewery in front of their beer fermenting machines. Corras works as a trainer and yoga instructor at The Right Fit, a small personal training gym in Belleville. They run a beer-yoga event in collaboration with Signal Brewery on Thursday evenings. Photo by Shelby Lisk.

OTTAWA, Ont. (14/04/18) — Anna Paluch stands in front of her great grandmother’s rug, holding photographs of her parents, who immigrated from Poland 29 years ago. Paluch surrounds herself with objects that remind her of her Polish ancestry: floral scarves, embroidery and here she wears a flower crown that she made for her wedding, a tradition in Poland. “I collect so many of my cultural items that I have become a cultural item in and of myself. I collect these objects because I am geographically dislocated from it. I drown myself in it. I fetishize Poland as the promise land but then I go there and I’m a stranger. After going there multiple times I realized that ‘my Poland’ doesn’t exist. The Poland I imagined was based on stories and books. It was a fairytale imaged from my diasporic upbringing. I feel like I have no country but I have a culture,” says Paluch. Photo by Shelby Lisk

TYENDINAGA, Ont. (16/02/18) — Britta Gaddes and her daughter Moira Gaddes take a moment of silence at a vigil for Colten Boushie on Friday. Gaddes is a Cree woman from British Columbia who moved to the community over a decade ago. The vigil gave them a place to come together with their community to mourn in the wake of Boushie’s death and the acquittal of Gerald Stanley. Photo by Shelby Lisk.

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (20/09/18) — A crowd of 80 marched the streets of downtown Belleville for the annual Take Back the Night rally on Thursday evening. Take Back the Night is an international event that aims to end sexual, relationship and domestic violence in all forms. The group marched through Station Street to Pinnacle and down Moira back to Lion’s Park where attendees listened to speakers and ate together. Photo by Shelby Lisk

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (09/10/18) — Hartleigh Schoneveld hurls herself upside-down, enjoying the warm fall weather with their family in East hill park, in Belleville, on Tuesday evening before dinner. The temperatures were in the low teens for thanksgiving weekend and soared to 25 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday, well above seasonal average for this time of year. The sun shone into the evening for the excitement of children and adults alike, that could be found out enjoying what will likely be the last of the warm weather until the spring. Photo by Shelby Lisk.

TYENDINAGA, Ont. (03/12/17) – Kelly Drrum places dogwood in a vase while her son, Aaron Maracle, looks out the window onto their yard. Maracle and Drrum live together in their home in Tyendinaga, which is now in Maracle’s name since his father passed away in 2015. Drrum is unable to own her home because she is not a member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte so her son stays with her. Photo by Shelby Lisk

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (11/10/18) — The four mayoral candidates met at the Empire Theatre on Thursday evening to discuss the future of arts, culture and entertainment sector in Belleville in a dialogue facilitated by the theatre’s owner, Mark Rashotte (left to right: Taso Christopher, Edgerton Boyce, Mitch Panciuk, Jodie Jenkins and Mark Rashotte). Photo by Shelby Lisk.

BELLEVILLE, Ont. (24/02/18) — Chelsey Alyea lifts her three-year-old son Myles Alyea up so that he can do chin ups. Alyea became a mother unexpectedly, at age 19, with Myle’s older sister Grace. Since then Alyea has worked hard to come into her role as Mom. She is now married and attending Loyalist College for early childhood education having realized that her passion in life is working with young children. Photo by Shelby Lisk.

IVANHOE, Ont. (11/06/17)— Alysia McMenomy stands in a field of wild phlox outside of her home in Ivanhoe, Ontario. McMenomy’s home run company, Begonia Moon, sources flowers and plants from her own garden and local growers to create arrangements and natural beauty products inspired by botanicals. Alysia says that “each product is created around the simple notion that plants are medicine. They work with our bodies and minds to help us live, grow and heal”. Photo by Shelby Lisk.